Android comes with messaging as the default SMS app that you can use to read the text messages you receieve on your mobile number as well as compose and send new text messages to your contacts, friends and family members. This messaging app is good enough in itself for all the texting requirements. But there are many new messaging apps that can give you much better features to suit your requirements. For example, the Messenger app from Google itself has many advanced and improved features that you may benefit from. You can install these texting apps from Google Play Store, but you may have to take a few extra steps in order to set these new texting apps as your default SMS app.
For setting a texting app as your default SMS app, you will have to open the Android settings menu. You can open the Android settings from the app drawer or through the home-screen menu.
On the settings screen, you will find Wireless & Networks settings that control how your phone connects to the cellular networks and the WiFi networks. You have to touch More under the Wireless & Networks section.
On the next screen that appears, you can touch on the Default SMS app to choose one of the texting apps. It will show you a list of all the apps capable of sending and receiving SMS messages in your phone and you can choose one of these apps and that would be set as your default SMS app.
So that’s it. For added effect, you can remove the stock messaging app from the home screen of your Android phone and add the shortcut to your new SMS app, so that you can launch it from the home screen without having to go through the app drawer.